Australian Football

Match Report

Hawthorn gained some revenge for its heartbreaking 2011 Preliminary Final loss to Collingwood by defeating the Magpies by 22 points in an old-fashioned shootout. An under-strength Collingwood, missing seven of its best 22, including captain Nick Maxwell and key defender Chris Tarrant, battled manfully but couldn’t contain the Hawks’ firepower. After a quiet first half, Lance Franklin came alive for Hawthorn in the second half, ending the match with five brilliant goals. But exciting forward Cyril Rioli arguably upstaged ‘Buddy’; kicking two goals, playing a part in countless others and providing an early contender for Mark of the Year. Early in the second quarter, Rioli leapt high over Collingwood’s Heath Shaw to ignite a game that had been fairly low key up until that point. Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley, who was coaching his first AFL game, would have been delighted with the team’s ’ game of midfielder Scott Pendlebury, and his team’s overall . The contest was up for grabs right until the dying minutes; Collingwood even managed to hit the front early in the last quarter, but Hawthorn’s determination took over as they piled on the goals to assert their premiership credentials.

GOALS

Hawthorn: Franklin 5; Rioli 2, Lewis, Whitecross, Savage, Smith 2; Birchall, McCauley, Burgoyne, Gunston, Osborne. Collingwood: Blair 3; Fasolo, Cloke, Pendlebury, Jolly, Thomas, Shaw, Swan, Paine 



BEST PLAYERS - AFL.COM.AU
Hawthorn: Mitchell, Birchall, Sewell, Rioli, Franklin, Whitecross
. Collingwood: Pendlebury, Ball, Blair, Swan, Cloke, Jolly.

BEST PLAYERS - THE AGE
Hawthorn: Mitchell, Franklin, Birchall, Sewell, Suckling. Collingwood: Pendlebury, Cloke, Swan, Jolly.

COACHES COMMENTS
Alastair Clarkson (Haw): Now, beating them in the first round of the season doesn't suggest that we're there. We've still got a lot of work to do. It's round one. We're pleased that we were able to beat a very, very good opponent tonight, but we don't get much respite.
Nathan Buckely (Coll): You either take advantage of it when you've got it and you try and hold the opposition when they've got it. For the most part, we didn't maximise our chances when we had the momentum, and we struggled to hold them back when they had it.



Umpires: McBurney, McInerney, Mollison



Official crowd: 78,464 at MCG